1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of physical fitness assessment and more particularly to the field of testing for physical fitness and predicting exercise performance capabilities.
2. Background of the Invention
The field of physical fitness assessment and testing has seen an increasing demand with rising public interest in physical fitness and the relevance of performance to soldiers, firefighters, athletes, and the like. For instance, with the high demand and financial stakes of professional and collegiate athletics, there is strong interest in accurately predicting and testing the physical fitness of the athletes. In addition, the increasingly health conscious public is interested in assessing their physical fitness.
Health clubs and physiological laboratories typically conduct elaborate fitness and performance assessments. Such assessments often test the aerobic and anaerobic fitness of participants. Several different tests have been used to make such aerobic and anaerobic assessments. For instance, tests to make an aerobic assessment typically determine the VO2 max of a subject. This value may be measured by having an individual exercise (e.g., on a treadmill or a stationary bicycle) for a period of time ranging from five to thirty minutes. During such period of time, the passage of air in and out of the individual's nose is blocked, for example by a clip. A mouthpiece is placed in the individual's mouth and connected to equipment that measures the volume and composition of the air the person expires (e.g., a metabolic system, indirect calorimetry system, and the like), which is a device that determines the quantity of oxygen in the expired air. By comparing the quantity of oxygen in the expired air to the quantity of oxygen in the air taken in to the mouth, the quantity of oxygen used by the individual is determined, thereby providing the VO2 max. The component of physical or aerobic fitness is measured by the quantity of oxygen taken from the air per a unit of time.
An example of an anaerobic test is the Wingate Test. With the Wingate test, a person typically pedals on a stationary bicycle at maximum effort for a set period of time with the power output of the bicycle measured. A sum of the bicycle's power output over the period of time is typically used as a comparison with such a sum from other people to determine the person's anaerobic fitness.
Drawbacks of the typical anaerobic and aerobic tests include the length of time and expense involved. For instance, aerobic tests typically require from 5 to 20 minutes of strenuous exercise. Further drawbacks include the use of sophisticated equipment. Additional drawbacks include, for instance, anaerobic fitness being limited to the power output of the stationary bicycle and not the power output of the individual being tested.
Consequently, there are needs for improved methods for assessing and predicting efforts that are determined by individual levels of anaerobic and aerobic fitness. Additional needs include less expensive and less complicated methods for assessing anaerobic and aerobic fitness.